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OFFICE OF THE UMPIRE No. E-109 MAY 19, 1947
Claim Of Misclassification
GRIEVANCE: Chevrolet-Tonawanda—Case E-74 "We ask pay for all time worked on Wicks operation in Crankshaft Dept. Crankshaft Wicks operators rate was $1.14 per hr. in the 1943 Pratt and Whitney agreement and the present rate should be $1.32 ½ per hr."
Umpire’s Decision: The grievance is dismissed. (Entire decision should be read)
In the Matter of: United Automobile Workers of America—C.I.O.—Local 774 and General Motors Corporation Chevrolet—Tonawanda—Case E-74
The turning operation on Chevrolet crankshafts at the Chevrolet-Tonawanda Plant is performed on a battery of Wicks lathes by employees classified as "Lathe Operators—Special, Heavy or Precision" at the rate of $1.275 per hour. In this grievance, the Union claims that it should properly be classified as "Lathe Operator—Special, Heavy or Precision—Exception" at the rate of $1.325 per hour. The Umpire cannot uphold this claim. The "Exception" classification was negotiated during the war to cover operations performed on Pratt and Whitney aircraft engines. The specific operations on these engines to which the classifications were to apply were listed in the Wage Agreement by number, machine name, and description. It is clear from the language of the agreement that the classification covers only the operations listed. It is not, in other words, a general classification applicable throughout the plant to any operations which fall within its agreed scope. Rather, it is a limited classification applicable by its terms only to the operations specified in the agreement. As the Umpire pointed out in Decision C-296, operations can be removed from or added to the latter type of classification only by the mutual agreement of both parties. In this case, therefore, the alleged similarity of the work performed on Chevrolet crankshafts to that performed on Pratt and Whitney crankshafts is immaterial. The parties have agreed on the specific operations to which the "Exception" classification should apply. The Umpire cannot alter or modify that agreement. The grievance must be dismissed.
Decision The grievance is dismissed. Signed, Ralph T. Seward UMPIRE May 19, 1947. |